After breakfast at the lodge, Chloe drove Rose back to Nanyuki.
“I thought your friend Julius wanted a lift,” commented Chloe.
“He’s coming back later with one of the lodge cars, which is doing a supply run to Nanyuki. He’s meeting someone from Borana this morning to discuss the removal of the enclosure and the ongoing monitoring of the four jackals.” Rose turned to Chloe and asked, “Did you enjoy your night away?”
“It was great, and the lodge is amazing. I wish I could have stayed longer, and I probably would have if it wasn’t for this morning’s counselling session.”
“What are you going to say to Dan? How will you persuade him to join you?”
“I really don’t know. I could either take the helpless, pleading approach. Something along the lines of ‘I really need your help’, ‘this is important to me’, that sort of thing. Or I could just issue an ultimatum and tell him that if he refuses to support me, and would prefer to be with his mates, then I’m leaving. But I’m not sure I’m ready to go nuclear just yet.”
“I think you’re right. Better to err on the side of caution,” Rose said as Chloe drove close to the edge of the road to navigate around a particularly large pothole. Rose looked down at the steep drop to the forest floor and wished she hadn’t.
Chloe steered back into the middle of the road and continued, “I had a good chat with Marina yesterday, about her family. Did you know they’re refusing to talk to her at the moment? And it’s all because she refused to see some Indian man her father arranged for her to meet. She came up to Laikipia instead to manage the lodge.”
Chloe slowed down, and the car bumped over the uneven road. “Anyway, she helped me get some perspective on families and relationships.”
“Perhaps there is a middle way,” suggested Rose. “You could just be completely honest with Dan. And tell him what’s troubling you and the concerns you have about your marriage. Remind him that there are two people in it and unless he engages, it will fall apart. Then suggest he comes and meets the counsellor, and if he is not happy he can leave. But, for the sake of both of you, please can he give it a try.”
Chloe was silent as she drove across a particularly rough section of the Ngare Ndare road. As they emerged under the elephant wire into Ethi village, she said, “I think you’re right. It’s time to be honest but sincere. And I can’t force my marriage to work. Dan has to want it to as well.”
Chloe dropped Rose at the Cottage Hospital.
“Thank you, and good luck,” called Rose as she shut the car door.
She turned towards the main hospital building, took a deep breath, and braced her shoulders. She picked up her overnight bag and climbed the concrete steps.
When she opened the door into Craig’s ward, she found Chris already sitting by his father’s bed. He turned to her, folded his arms across his chest and said in an off-hand tone, “Hi Mum. Glad you could join us.”
Rose felt her jaw clench, but she steadied herself and said in a friendly tone, “Morning Chris. Thank you for coming to see your father this morning.” She walked across to Craig and pecked him on the cheek. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m not sure. The pain seems to be less, but everything is a little numb.”
“I’m not surprised,” responded Chris. “You’ve been lying in bed for nearly two days.”
Chris got up and found a second chair, which he placed on the opposite side of the bed for Rose. He asked, “So how was Borana?”
“Julius from the Animal Orphanage is a relieved man,” she said.
“The jackals,” gasped Craig as he tried to shift position. “Tell me all about them.”
“Dad, are you OK?” asked Chris.
Craig settled back on his pillows. “Yes, I am now. Go on, Rose.” But his face was pale.
“Julius was worried, as one jackal had left the enclosure, and not returned, but the others were reluctant to venture out. Anyway, when we were watching them this morning, we heard a cry and they left. We followed them to a recent kill and the missing jackal. After they had eaten, they were chased off by a couple of hyenas, but they didn’t return to the enclosure and appear to have taken up residence in an empty den. Julius is going to ask the Borana staff to keep an eye on them as he has to return to the orphanage.”
“That’s a relief,” said Craig. “I’d say a job well done. And what about Thabiti and Marina? How are they getting on?”
“Thabiti’s happy enough, especially as Sam and Constable Wachira are staying at the lodge, but Marina seems tired and under pressure.”
“I guess that’s no surprise, since one of her first guests disappeared and turned up dead,” said Craig ruefully. “Is the husband still staying at the lodge?”
“Yes, and Chloe gave his friend a lift yesterday. Do you remember the lady who disembarked from the Lewa flight when we met you, Chris? At the Nanyuki airstrip. She was the elegant, rather ostentatious woman who gave her hat to Nina Scott Watson.”
Chris nodded.
“It seems she and Robert Scott Watson have been friends for years, and plenty more besides, I suspect.” Rose raised her eyebrows.
“So what is this case all about?” asked Chris.
“Why? Is it starting to interest you?” Rose teased.
“Even I have to admit it sounds rather fascinating. A missing wife, a non-plussed husband and his attractive ‘friend’. And all set in a luxury lodge in a Kenyan wildlife conservancy. It’s like a film script.”
Rose outlined the facts of the case and the lack of progress in trying to solve it.
Chris leaned back and closed his eyes. He muttered, “I’ve heard of something similar before. An unsolved case, but where was it?”
Rose waited patiently, intrigued by Chris’s interest.
Chris sat up. “That’s it. My final inter-services skiing competition before I left the army.”
“Skiing,” questioned Craig. “I didn’t know you could ski. We could never afford those school trips.”
“I know,” chuckled Chris. “It was one of the reasons I jumped at the chance when the army offered it. Mind you, I think they expected people who actually knew how to ski when they asked for volunteers for a month’s training, followed by the inter-services ski challenge.”
“How did you get on?” asked Rose.
“The first year was hard, particularly the downhill skiing, and there were plenty better than me. But I was fit, and I can shoot well, so I specialised in the biathlon. And over the years I improved and even competed for the slalom team as well.”
“Anyway, what has skiing got to do with this case?” asked Rose in confusion.
“As I was saying. During our trip a woman went missing, just like your case. Her body turned up a few days later in one of those shepherd huts scattered about the mountain. The police thought she had got lost, sheltered and frozen to death. But apparently the pathologist said she had been dead for three days, yet she had been spotted in the resort two days before her body was found. The police were baffled and I don’t believe they ever solved the case.”
“Which ski resort did this happen in?” asked Rose, suspecting she knew the answer.
“I think it was Val d’Isère. It was certainly one of the French resorts, which had an amazing seafood restaurant. I was served a whole crab on a silver platter and was given a pair of seafood crackers, like a nutcracker, to break the claws, and metal picks to delve out the meat. But I nearly ate the poisonous part of the crab without realising. I remember that. What a fun night, although it seemed strange to be eating seafood in the mountains, surrounded by snow and so far away from the sea.”
“I wonder,” muttered Rose to herself.